Ryan Guzman Disney/Christopher Willard
Ryan Guzman says his character, Eddie Diaz, is on a seek for “pleasure” in season 8 of 9-1-1 — and dancing in his underwear is just the start.
“It’s stepping outdoors of his consolation zone, permitting himself to really feel uncomfortable and awkward and put himself in positions that he’d most likely not need to be in beforehand and simply taking up a brand new take a look at life, to be trustworthy,” Guzman, 37, solely instructed Us Weekly. “I imply, I feel it’s actually a retransmission within the thoughts earlier than something bodily or or environmental occurs round him.”
9-1-1’s Thursday, November 7, episode, titled “Confessions” noticed Eddie, nicely, confessing his guilt over hurting son Christopher (Gavin McHugh) and finally inflicting him to maneuver in? together with his grandparents in Texas. However one or two discussions with a priest (Gavin Stenhouse) — and an task to recite just a few Our Fathers — later, Eddie finds himself on a seek for a life past caring for others.
Guzman instructed Us that viewers can anticipate to see Eddie leaning right into a extra “childlike habits” within the upcoming episodes of season 8, which can be stuffed with “extra levity” and “a bit of bit extra enjoyable” for the character than what they’ve seen earlier than. That doesn’t, nonetheless, imply that the whole lot will go easily.
“It’s not essentially gonna be trying nice or him trying good,” Guzman defined. “I feel he’s dispelling that concept of what was since season 1 or season 2. So I had numerous enjoyable with Eddie on the subsequent couple of episodes.”
Guzman harassed that a lot of Eddie’s journey has been centered round him caring for others — personally and professionally — which has finally taken a toll on him through the years.
“He’s coming from being within the Military and having maintain his routine, and actually being a medic, placing suturing folks collectively to going to the 118 and caring for different people or caring for his ex-wife [Shannon], after which she passes away and now [he has his] son to maintain — It’s all the time been about any person else,” he defined. “ It’s all the time been about duties, and I do know that from a private standpoint, too many duties can weigh heavy on the soul, after which it sort of kills that childlike habits, that mentality.”
A “stability,” Guzman stated, is what Eddie is searching for transferring ahead. “Which opens the door to extra space for him trying inside and simply being, like, ‘All proper, let’s simply take this burden, this weight of the world, off my shoulders and permit myself to simply stay,’” he added.
The place that story will take Eddie — and what “actually residing” truly means — stays to be seen, however the character kickstarted his journey by symbolically letting go of one thing some followers are sure to overlook: his mustache.
“[Our showrunner], Tim [Minear], and I had a dialog about what the mustache was and the way we had been gonna work it into Eddie’s character, and him actually hiding from himself and actually not eager to see himself turned the general theme,” Guzman instructed Us. “In order a lot as he’s been attempting to do new issues and attempting to determine himself out this season, that mustache actually solidified the truth that he’s, like, ‘No, I needs to be punished for what I’ve gone by way of or what I’ve finished to my very own son my ex-girlfriend [Marisol] and the doppelganger of my previous spouse.’”
Guzman famous that the guilt from hurting the folks round him has been “holding him down” and “constricting him” — and a “second of acceptance” got here together with shaving his facial hair. “He has that second the place he seems to be at himself within the mirror and actually simply accepts himself,” Guzman added, “Which is gorgeous.”
Eddie didn’t simply cease at a contemporary face. “Confessions” additionally sees Eddie channeling his interior Tom Cruise with an epic Dangerous Enterprise-style dance — full with Bob Seger & The SIlver Bullet Band’s “Outdated Time Rock and Roll,” the sock slide, and, sure, the tighty-whiteys. Guzman stated he discovered in regards to the scene from Minear about “a month and a half” earlier than taking pictures it, and the actor — who turned identified for his dance strikes after 2014’s Step Up All In — couldn’t have been extra able to strip down and press play.
“After they instructed me my immediate thought was, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna have a lot enjoyable with this. I haven’t danced on digital camera in years upon years.’ After which they saved on coming as much as me like, ‘Are you, are you positive you bought this? Are you positive you need to do that?’ However I embraced it,” he stated. “I really like the truth that this is a chance for Eddie to simply actually let free in so some ways. Like, he’s in his chonies simply on the market exhibiting the world what he has and dancing round like Tom Cruise.”
Guzman stated that he and Minear mentioned that whereas Dangerous Enterprise was clearly an inspiration, they didn’t need it to be “shot for shot” remake. As a substitute, they needed Eddie’s abilities to replicate who he’s as a personality, not who Guzman is as a dancer.
“I didn’t need to be too good! That was my concern,” Guzman instructed Us with amusing. “I used to be like, ‘Eddie will not be knowledgeable dancer. Eddie is Eddie and he ought to simply be showcasing how a lot enjoyable he’s having at that second.’ I feel we did six or seven takes, and every time [our director] Chad Lowe would come as much as me and like, ‘That is superior. I really like this a lot.’ And that will get me amped up once more.”
The perfect half for Guzman? There was actually no option to mess it up. “There’s no unsuitable reply, and also you don’t have to seek out the appropriate reply,” he stated. “So I simply sort of did my factor and had enjoyable with it.”
There was, nonetheless, stress in different areas, like ensuring the whole lot was —ahem, nicely located? — to maintain Guzman snug.
“I really feel unhealthy for [head costume designer] Alayna Bell-Value, oh man,” Guzman stated, laughing. “I’m positive there have been so many notes of how a lot thigh I might present and what a part of my underwear I might present. As a result of we did fairly just a few fittings. We did so lots of the renditions of them, like, tying my shirt into my underwear, or one lengthy, lengthy shirt that seemed like I used to be sporting Shaq’s shirt. However fortunately we discovered the right match.”
As a lot enjoyable as Eddie is having in “Confessions,” his second of pleasure is abruptly interrupted by a knock on the door, which finally ends up being a newly broken-hearted Buck (Oliver Stark) who has simply been dumped by his boyfriend Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) The 2 don’t change a single phrase within the second, however Guzman stated Eddie will finally hear the small print of Buck’s breakup and can be dealing with it in a different way than anticipated.
“I feel it’s one other second of progress for the character of Eddie, as a result of beforehand Eddie would tackle the duty of attempting to save lots of Buck or assist Buck,” Guzman defined, noting that proper now his character is targeted on “residing within the second” above anything. “There could possibly be some guilt present in there, some residual guilt from the previous of Eddie being like, ‘Ah, nicely I ought to nonetheless be there for my pal. Ah, I ought to nonetheless do that.’ However I’ve taken this character the other way. I need him to lean in additional in the direction of giving to himself, and thru that he’s capable of finding a bit of bit extra maturity and a bit of bit extra of himself and floor himself in that.”
Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman are very conscious that 9-1-1 followers are hoping to see their characters, Buck and Eddie, get collectively — and so they’ve opened up about whether or not there’s potential for a romance on a number of events. “I’m open to it. , there’s clearly stuff there and there’s a chemistry between us,” Stark, who […]
Guzman added that Eddie’s newfound maturity will primarily be what Buck wants anyway. “I feel that that itself presents Buck what he’s simply asking for,” he stated. “He’s not asking for solutions, he’s asking for an ear, he’s asking for consolation, he’s asking for area. So it’s not a lot Eddie coming to Buck’s rescue or serving to him out, it’s simply being there as a pal, being there as a brother, discovering the appropriate group.”
However will Buck — or anybody — be serving to Eddie on his personal journey to seize pleasure? The reply is a convincing “no” from Guzman, who stated Eddie’s arc can be all about discovering who he’s on his personal phrases.
“That is singular,” he defined. “Typically we simply should do our personal factor at our personal tempo and determine it out for ourselves. Nobody’s going to have the ability to stay our life for us. So for Eddie, it’s a little bit of trial and error on this new spectrum of life and discovering all of the completely different colours that permit him to take this massive stress off himself and mess up if he desires to.”
He rapidly added: “Not on the job, clearly, however in his private life.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 air on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
